Weekend Watch: June 9, 2023
Dark secrets behind the Duggars + true crime obsessions + Pride Month is a stellar time to find cultural gems from queer history...
Hey there, TueNighters! We’re cruising into the weekend with another awesome list of new releases, series drops, and tv shows, as seen on this week’s TueDo List — LET’S GO…
Here are this week’s picks:
LGBTQ Favorites: 20 Unforgettable Films (The Criterion Channel): Proud, rebellious, colorful, intimate, and frank, these visions of LGBTQ+ life include beloved modern classics as well as hidden gems. From staples of the art-house canon to highlights of the New Queer Cinema explosion and contemporary showstoppers from emerging talents, these films represent just a sample of the wide world of queer cinema, but they offer a taste of its breadth, creativity, and defiance in the face of adversity.
New-ish favorite find: one of the featured films “Chavela” is a portrait of barrier-breaking ranchera singer Chavela Vargas and her triumphant return to the stage at 71; she publicly came out as a lesbian at age 81 in her 2002 autobiography — and we’re totally digging Chavela on Spotify.
Masc (The Criterion Channel): Spotlighting the rich stories and courageous lives of trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes, this 19-film collection—curated by writer-archivist-filmmaker Jenni Olson and critic Caden Mark Gardner—journeys through nearly four decades of cinema history in search of authentic, complex representations of masculine identity as it exists outside the realm of cisgender men.
From nuanced explorations of gender-nonconforming youth to innovative narratives that deconstruct both gender and genre, these films celebrate the courageous queer visionaries who have blazed these trails and who continue to show the way forward and inspire us all.
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets (Prime Video): four-part docuseries exposing the truth beneath the wholesome Americana surface of reality tv’s favorite mega-family, The Duggars (a.k.a. TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting), and the radical organization behind them: The Institute in Basic Life Principles. As details of the family and their scandals unfold, we realize they’re part of an insidious, much larger threat already in motion, with democracy itself in peril.
Trigger warnings—plural: The series talks to ex-members and victims of the IBLP, the ministry the Duggars belong to, and reveals the rampant abuse that went on behind the scenes. It contains mentions of sexual abuse, child abuse, child sexual abuse materials, and other sensitive topics.
Based on a True Story | Season 1 (Peacock): Between endless bills, midlife marriage squabbles, a new pregnancy, and mounting work pressures, Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and her husband Nathan (Chris Messina) feel like they're watching their lives fall apart. Ava's passion is true crime, so when she realizes that plumber-turned-family friend Matt is the serial killer behind a string of unsolved murders in LA, she spots an opportunity. Ava and Nathan blackmail Matt into co-creating a podcast about his "work," but they quickly realize that collaborating with a killer won't be a cakewalk.
I sat through that documentary about the Duggars. That is one fucked up, sick family.
Had to pop by to recommend "1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed" on HBO with W. Kamau Bell talking about being mixed race with kids and their families...and his family. xo